Identifying, Investigating, and Prosecuting Witness Intimidation in Cases of Sexual Abuse in Confinement

Regardless of the setting in which it occurs, witness intimidation is a chronic problem with devastating implications for victims and for the prosecution of crimes. Intimidation associated with sexual abuse decreases victim and community safety, contributes to lower levels of crime reporting, and hinders investigations and prosecutions of cases. Intimidation compounds the already significant barriers victims face, leading them—and their cases—to continue to fall through the cracks. Victims of sexual abuse in confinement are especially vulnerable to intimidation because they typically have fewer opportunities to escape from (or even avoid) their abusers.

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Author: Viktoria Kristiansson, JD and Charlene Whitman-Barr, JD

Federal Sponsor Agency: BJA

Provider: AEquitas